Cathy's Art Diary

Clever exhibition at Ordovas of exploring the colour gold. In just a few works the show looked at how gold had been used by 20th century and contemporary artists as well as showing an enamelled reliquary box from about 1200. The press release talked about how gold had been used as a symbol of prestige, prosperity and sacred power. Highlights included gold bullets by Chris Burden and two early shoe pictures by Andy Warhol with the shoes in gold leaf. It was important to remember the show was about the colour gold rather than the metal so there were works such a Carl Andre's "Copper Corner" and Lucio Fontana's "Concetto Spaziale" an oil painting resembling gold. Closed 13 December 2024    

Delightful exhibition at Ordovas of a project by Colombian artist Jose Antonio Suarez Londono also known as JASL. In 2014 Londono structured his year and daily drawing practice in a series of weekly themes. Each day he dedicated his daily drawing to that weekly theme on such diverse subjects as dogs and shipping. He then collected the drawings in envelopes for each week. The show included all the envelopes, each with a small drawing on them, and a selection of the delicate and exquisite drawings with annotations. As a blogger and diarist this calm, methodical approach really appealed to me. If only I could draw! Closed 26 July 2024  

Small gem of an exhibition at Ordovas bringing together a Gauguin landscapes with contemporary works. The Gauguin was a lovely early work of a beautifully framed farmyard which was then shown with two works by Peter Doig and two by Mamma Andersson. It was interesting to not only look at the contrast in style but also the different approaches from different countries. Not to be cliched but the large Doig was big and bold like the American landscape whereas the Swedish Andersson’s work had a Scandi melancholy to it This gallery specialise in small shows that present you with an idea and leave you to contemplate it. Closed 26 April 2024  

Clever exhibition at Ordovas on Lucien Freud and horses. The star of the show was “Mare Eating Hay” from 2006 of a mare called Sioux who was Freud’s favourite horse when he painted at Wormwood Scrubs Pony Centre. Sioux went to his funeral and stood at the back of the chapel then led the procession to his grave. There was a charming photograph by his assistant, David Dawson, of him painting her. The show also looked at Freud’s love of gambling on the horses and included portraits of people he met through this interest including a portrait of his bookmaker, Irving Tindler, painted in lieu of a gambling debt. Downstairs were a selection of prints and etchings by Freud with some beautiful portraits including two of his dog. Closed 16 December 2022  

Fascinating exhibition at Ordovas of drawings by Richard Serra better known for his large site specific sculptures. All the works were made in 2018 and were entitled “Orchard Street” after the street where he lives in Long Island. I must admit visually I found these rather dull large black and white works however a friendly gallery assistant explained how they were made by spreading ink and silica on a printing plate then applying a sheet of paper and pressing down with a steel block and his body weight so they are in essence monoprints. I liked the fact they had a physical aspect them which reflected the physicality of sculpture. Closed 17 December 2021

Fascinating exhibition at Ordovas looking at the friendship between Francis Bacon and Peter Beard. The two men met in 1967 at one of Bacon’s openings at the Marlborough Gallery and the two men became friends and admirers of each other’s work as well as serving as each other’s subjects. Bacon painted nine pictures of Beard from sittings and from photographs that Beard sent him. The show included a lovely double portrait from 1976. Both men worked from collected and found images, Bacon piling them on the studio floor and Beard collecting them in his diaries and using them in photo collages. They also shared an interest in conservation. Beard photographer a series of aerial shots of dead elephant carcasses which he layered with other images. A number of these were found in Bacon’s studio. A number of these images were in the show and were shown with correspondence between them. Closed 16 July 2021

Fascinating exhibition at Ordovas looking at the 18 months in the late 1930s when Peggy Guggenheim had a gallery in Cork Street in London. The show just had 12 objects and pictures mainly by Yves Tanguy and Hand Arp to show her collecting interests in Surrealism and Abstraction. These included rings designed by Tanguy for Guggenheim in rose wood and silver gilt. I loved the title of one work by Arp “Head with Annoying Object”. What a great description in one title of Surrealism. However I found the case of archive material most interesting including photographs, catalogues of shows and invitations to exhibition opening. As I had recently been to a show at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice looking at her collecting there,   it was good to learn about another aspect of her career. Closed 14 December 2019

Small focused exhibition at Ordovas looking at the use of a single colour, white, in sculpture. There were just five works in the show but they were quality works by well-known artists, Richard Serra, Isamu Noguchi, Alberto Giacometti. Barbara Hepworth and Eduardo Chillida. There was a good selection of materials used not just the obvious marble, there was also alabaster, plaster and vulcanised rubber. The hand out for the show gave an excellent explanation of the works. I loved a small work by Giacometti from the late 1920s called “Femme” which is known to have been an influence on many British sculptors. Because it was made in plaster you felt you could see the hand of the artists in it. There was also a delightful small Hepworth from the mid 1960 with overlapping pieces of marble on a base with circles cut into them. Closed on 22 April 2017  

Small but interesting exhibition at Ordovas looking at a number of great artistic partnerships of the mid-20th century. The partnerships were represented by a work from each artist and the show was accompanied by a great handout telling you a bit more about the artists and the partnerships. It would have been nice to have more on the detail of the relationships between composer John Cage, choreographer Merce Cunningham and the artists Ct Twombly, Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg. I feel there might be a novel in the vague “artists and personal relationships”! It was a nice touch to be running a film collaboration between Cage and Cunningham alongside the pictures and sculptures. It was amazing to find a lovely Frida Kahlo self-portrait downstairs. It always comes as a surprise to me that you can find works of that calibre in private galleries in London which anyone can visit. I was sorry that Diego Rivera was mentioned but there was no work by him. There was a love...

Small exhibition at the Ordovas Gallery of three works by Eduardo Chillida. The three works are rarely seen and were made of steel and granite. One in the middle seemed to change shape as you walked round it, giving different views through a circular structure all balanced on one end. I loved the granite work which looked like a big park bench. I so wanted to sit on it! I liked the square cut though it and the way the light shone through these spaces. Closes on 23 April 2016    

Interesting small exhibition at Ordovas looking at the friendship of two of Spain’s most important modern artists Joan Miro and Eduardo Chillida. There was a mix of pictures and sculpture by both artists and it was interesting to draw comparisons. I must admit I am not a big Miro fan, I do keep trying but he leaves me a bit cold so I wasn’t intrigued by this friendship however it was a nicely set out show. This gallery is good and taking just a few objects and building a story with them. Review Telegraph  

Tiny gem of an exhibition at Ordovas looking at the primitive in Gaugin’s work both in Tahiti and Brittany. This was quite a large stark white space with four jewel like Gaugin’s in it! My favourite was a stunning portrait of a young Tahitian boy.   I am not a great Gaugin fan but this had a slightly Renaissance quality. It was also good to see a sculpture included as I find his Tahitian sculpture more interesting that the painting. There was also a fascinating film on Gaugin in his own words playing. However it was slightly long and was being shown in a elegant office space. I must admit I felt odd standing next to three people who were working while watching it but I was pleased to see it’s on the website so I will watch it in full there.